Accessibility Links

Goldman bets on Mongolia

Goldman has not disclosed how much it paid for the stakeBrendan McDermid/Reuters

Goldman Sachs has placed a bet on surging economic growth in Mongolia, taking a 4.8 per cent stake in the country’s oldest bank.

With Mongolia’s economy forecast to grow by as much as 25 per cent this year and 30 per cent in 2013, Goldman has joined the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation in buying a stake in Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia.

Goldman did not disclose how much it paid for the holding in the privately owned bank, although insiders stressed it was a passive stake designed to give it exposure to a booming economy.

It is understood that Goldman deliberately held the stake below 4.99 per cent because taking a bigger holding would have triggered greater disclosure requirements under…